


Velveteen

by Coffeepills



Series: Tis the way of all flesh [2]
Category: Saint Seiya, 聖闘士星矢: 冥王神話 | Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas
Genre: Character Study, Counts as AU?, Events retell, Gen, Hades-centric, Relationship Study, Self-Discovery, Self-Indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:47:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24211588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coffeepills/pseuds/Coffeepills
Summary: Hades awakens two hundred years or so after the first Holy War. Lovely surprises are waiting for his return to the Meikai. Well, beside the twins gods of course but that he expected at least.
Relationships: Hades & Hypnos (Saint Seiya), Hades & Thanatos (Saint Seiya), Hypnos & Thanatos (Saint Seiya)
Series: Tis the way of all flesh [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1741276
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6





	Velveteen

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2 of the "Tis the way of all flesh" series, but can be read as a stand-alone as well.

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His eyes gazed at the expanse of his domains.

It was but a short while ago since he woke up. His body just a tad strange, and his mind just a bit sluggish. There was a kind of tightness of his skin he had yet to get rid of. 

As one would expect after a two-hundred years worth of sleep. Unexpected did not cover it. However, it was inconvenient not per se either. It just felt as if he had woken up after over sleeping, by a far stretch at that. Still, it left an unsavoury taste in his mouth, like an after taste of something bitter that quite refused to let go. An effort gone to waste. A lost opportunity.

He did not remember a reverie at all, just plain nothingness. Therefore, he figured once his body had healed, Hypnos had left him drift into a deep dreamless state. After all, even wounds sustained in his final battle against Athena would not take centuries to mend.

Not that she had taken it easy. Not that she had not given up her own immortal life to insure he would yield. Not that he had been willing to do so. Most of all, not that it had been his worst injury since battling his very own father.

Cosmic inflicted injuries caused damage that was tough to deal with. He could attest of that.

He was right to focus on that instead of forsaking his own immortal body, or worst his immortal life. As did she. The foolishness of Athena to give that up, for humans no less. _‘Tsk.’_

However, he knew something else too. These mortals would eventually forget about her, forget about what she stood for, forsake her sacrifice and go on with their simple lives. Yet, the fear of death remained in their hearts, for they had come to realize their own futile existence. One they could never but only to aspire an escape from its finality.

For humans lives were but a mere speck of dust glistening under the light of the gods. They sparked once, if ever. An unrequited attempt to five sense to their existence, for Gods did not spend their existence gazing over mere specks of dust. Hades had not done so often. Perhaps, the most regrettably memorable instance to date was those Saints under Athena’s command.

That alone helped little to entertain his thoughts as he lost himself on the seemingly endless river ahead. The Acheron. Which he now gazed into, to no avail. The river of the dead did not reflect the living. As such, there was no steady yet calm gaze to look back at him, and the tightness of his skin remained.

So no, he, Hades, did not want to give it more thought than he already had.

As if on cue, his counsellors, the twin gods of Dream and Death stood just a couple of steps behind, one on each of his sides.

“We had to keep ourselves busy for your sake, Hades-sama.” Thanatos laid it so simply, no grandiloquence painted his words. He appreciated it. For all of their pointless and endless bickering, out of the two, the god of Death was usually the most forward in his ways. Perhaps even ingenuous if he might say, and that was just as right given his raw power on death. He doubted Thanatos would ever appreciate the irony. 

Hypnos albeit calmer always measured his words, made a plethora of plans ahead before enacting any. Whatever it took to avoid pointless bloodshed, he did. Heavy-work bloodshed, he added to his musing.

His eyes wondered back to the Acheron River. Its murky colour remained unaltered. No reflection appeared, as should be. Moreover, busy those two had been.

His dominion was back to its former infamous glory. It spoke of their dedication, but most of all it spoke of their loyalty. Ruler of the Underworld or not, Hades was no stranger to the dangers of letting his existence in the hand of others.

Really, his own father had eaten him and his brothers long before any others Olympians and immortals as themselves came to be. “Indeed, such pleasant and most comforting view.” His placid voice was most welcome if the soft rustle of Thanatos’s armour was anything to go by.

If he had dared so much as throw back a look, he would have caught the accomplice smirk both gods sent to each other. However, the Inferno was a busy place nowadays. Souls required a rightful place to rest, mostly to stick to their eternal place to mourn and moan endlessly.

Their voices had become a cacophony of complaints and regrets, souls pointlessly fighting the unavoidable. Alternatively, trying to, in the few cases that unfortunate soul awoke enough to do so. Alas, their ultimate fate had no way out as they arrived from the gate on mount Yomotsu.

He lifted an arm and the slightest flick of his hand made them silent for miles an end. “Humans, pitiful in life, pitiful in death.” No soul had ever escaped his domains if it was not destined to do so. No soul had escaped his long due tribulation.

After two centuries of silence as his sole companion, their agony was something he cared little for.

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His throne felt foreign, just somewhat. Still it was an odd sentiment to acknowledge. Of course, when the need of a change of scenery arose, he was no stranger to switching between the Inferno and the Elysion were the twins resided most of the time.

However, it had been a long time since he had been here by himself. He neither had been comfortable with nor had even contemplated it before. Nothing short of a lifechanging event had happened before. Not until Athena and her hordes, but that he refused to acknowledge.

Unlike significant effect on the course of a god's life, Hypnos and Thanatos were a constant in his. A presence not too far away to reach at his discretion, not too close to inconvenience his continuous and mostly undisturbed way of life either.

However, they were not here at the time. The long expanse of the room, barren as it had before, long before his awakening, did little to ease his mind.

Had it been like that before he fell asleep as well? Always had been? A silent sigh escaped his lips. It went unheard by any soul.

Tranquil, azure green, eyes examined the architecture details, the texture of the stone and black marble alike. His mind idly wondered which one was better. In which terms, however, remained to be seen. _‘Tsk.’_ Idle thoughts to irrelevant queries. 

Stone was stone. Inanimate by nature. Unconcerned by the ways of the world, it could not comfort nor affront by any means or shape.

His body felt much more adjusted now. The last of Hypnos’ veil of sleep had finally dissolved.

His cosmos expanded across his lands. Much alike a heavy fog descending at night, it blanketed the deepest, furthest expanses of his lands.

No golden flickers of dust, no terrific hues of foolish and impertinent notion of justice remained. Athena’s soul had long receded and had finally returned to the land of men, only some time before he awoke. The twins were right, and thoughtful to a fault.

Albeit indulging his preferences was not something, he duelled on often much less voice.

As it would be, yet another thoughtless thing to do considering all three were the sole living dwellers of the Underworld. Nevertheless, he trusted Hypnos’ word, more so than Thanatos’ on this specific issue matter.

If Hypnos ever considered double-checking, he would however confess his complacency. Most willingly at that.

Nevertheless, as instructed, no ill will had befallen Athena whilst her soul remained in the Elysion. Neither had she spent any length on time in the Inferno part of the Meikai. His land remained mostly untouched, unpolluted even. But most of all, uncorrupted.

Which was what mattered to this lord of the land of the dead. Still he had to make sure. These were his lands, his whole world. His one world, a piece of him and his soul. As such, her presence was to be permanent and completely erased.

Like an unwanted memory. Much alike a stain that had to be removed, even if to unsure, nothing would take root and rot away what was his.

His cosmos intensified, grasping at the lands in a way a famished man would suck on the bone. Lapping the extent of non-present flesh remains. The Underworld turned two shades greyer, and one pint gloomier, it was the only colour his life knew of. Perhaps a parting gift of his father’s belly.

When Hades found nothing amiss, the last of the tightness of his body died out as well. Another silent sigh escaped his lips. As the one before, it went by and lost itself within his halls. Unremarked.

As it turned, all was good in the Meikai. As it should be. Always.

Finally, at ease, his body allowed itself to be comfortably still against his marble throne. The room felt familiar enough once again so that he allowed his eyelids to close, the soft puffs of his constant breathing the only tell-tales sign that one of the living inhabited the Meikai at all.

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At long last, it become apparent that a new thought had formed in the confines of his mind. His return to his reality, away from dreams or therefor lack of, was followed by new happenings, as it turned out.

Something. Something undefined, unrefined even, stirred at the back of his mind.

Deep, deep within. So far away and yet so close, much alike that thought which constantly eluded oneself but was just on the tip of your tongue.

It stirred until it made itself known. An unknown yet familiar presence. _‘Uhm…’_ An agreeable one at that.

Then, there was a soft accompanying pulsating motion to his cosmos, as if it resonated with that unknown something. In his entire immortal existence only but a few moments seemed to hold an importance such as this one. He could tell, for he could trace it from his very core. Not even the twins joining him down here and in that pocket dimension that was the Elysion, had given him this kind of feeling. Utterly and completely his.

As such, he let his cosmos wander. Soon, it expanded into tendrils of velvet looking to latch on that unidentified manifestation. Until it came into contact. It turned into a feathering over something too precious to touch wantonly.

Intrigued and content, his cosmos continued reaching over, caressing the dark familiar shape. Finally, as if sentient, it touched the, much unanimated yet, precious glistening surface.

It felt right. It felt good. His soul itself resonated. More than two of a kind, if felt like an extension he did not know existed but had apparently lost sight of, at some point.

In a way, he only now realized he had missed it. Like a long forgotten love one crossed path with anew. How he longed to caress the velvet only he knew it felt like.

If it felt nice to be back into his flesh and bones, this new sensation felt like a much longed for welcome home. The Underworld was under his utter and complete control once again. All was good and his peace was back.

Suddenly, it felt like nothing was out of place anymore, and the whole Athena debacle was just an age-old memory, barely worth remembering at all. Finally.

“Hades-sama there is an issue that requires your attention.” This time, however, it was Hypnos the one to come up to him. They had come on their own volition; unannounced but by any means, not unwelcomed. His twin lingered no two steps away, he seemed a tad troubled but mostly curious. As if he did not know how to come to terms with whichever was the issue at hand. A puzzle awaiting to be solved, much alike the chess games both enjoyed so much.

As he gazed over at them, he realized they were actually _here_ , in his halls instead of the colourful, much alight, golden gardens of the Elysion. As such, the little peace he had before that moment, now evaded him anew. Nevertheless, he had something to look forward.

If they had figured what he felt, a strange bitterness to the whole ordeal, they had made little to let it known. Instead, Hypnos focused on pointing out something unheard of, something that was not supposed to happen. Nothing the fairest twin could ever predict.

Better say, something both twins did not know could happen. One hundred and eight somethings to be exact.

Furthermore, all one hundred and eight of them glistened in all their dark glory now. Like specs of dust fluttering onto the light.

Except in his domains, there was no light to begin with, so they bathed in his cosmos, coming alight in soft hues and shades of plum.

Not quite understanding the how it had all come to happen, the finding seemed to trouble Hypnos and Thanatos the most. That was new he noted, oddly complacent. 

The real novelty in the Underworld though was coming into realization that one hundred and eight stars were born into the Inferno. They took after all sorts of shapes and sizes, but shared one heart. _‘Uhm...’_ His.

The twin gods stood in silence, thoughtful face in place, as if contemplating their Lord’s intentions but refraining for asking. The fact that Hades himself was short of responses even if they had openly asked, made the whole point of it moot. As such, they lingered in between them, unvoiced. 

Why now? Why one hundred and eight? Most importantly though, what to do with them at all?

Indeed, what use could the god of the Underworld give to freshly born, unblemished yet much empty, surplices?

**Author's Note:**

> Title inspired by the song "Velveteen" sung by Ilaria Graziano, from the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex OST1. You can check the lyrics here https://www.animelyrics.com/anime/ghostshell/velveteen.htm)
> 
> This time around, I took more liberties. This short piece revolves around how the surplices came to be. Further insight might be given down the road but that will depend on how good of a grasp I can afford on the twin's pov (I think).
> 
> As in the first part of this series, "Tsk" denotes Hades disagreeing or being annoyed at some situation or thought. Whilst ‘‘Uhm...’’ is the other way around.
> 
> Still un-betaed, but I would be most grateful if someone helped me deliver more bits of this series from here on!


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